The engine in the Celica turned out to be not that fresh, so I'm looking for a replacement 20R or early 22R engine. Someone local just emailed me that they supposedly have a JDM 20R engine with low miles on it, which would be nice apart from the fact that I want to make sure it is a 20R and not the rather undesirable 2L 21R.

Does anybody know what sort of identifying marks I can check that aren't simply stickers on the valve covers?

I learned a very harsh lesson regarding JDM engines: always assume they require a rebuild. In my experience having bought one and talked to people who lived in Japan, some of the bad things that you hear about those engines is true.

I don't know the answer to your question, but I'll offer this- rebuilding a 20 or 22R isn't that bad. Parts are very cheap (if you're not building to SCCA rules). You might consider just reubilding what you have, or picking up a 22R core at the u pull lot. I don't think it would be that difficult to convert to EFI and run a 22RE.

Near as I know the 21R wasn't all that common, only used in a few places like Scandinavia. Though why anyone would spring for a "JDM" R motor that wasn't an 18R-G is awful suspicious in and of iteself.

Brett_Murphy wrote:
In reply to BoxheadTim:
I learned a very harsh lesson regarding JDM engines: always assume they require a rebuild. In my experience having bought one and talked to people who lived in Japan, some of the bad things that you hear about those engines is true.

+1 on that one, Jerry had similar luck importing a 4AGZE for the MR2, motor was totally worn out.

Supposedly, a bunch of 21Rs were imported to the US as used engines and I'd want to make sure it's not one of them.

I noticed that parts in general are fairly cheap for the 20R; the only reason I'm currently keeping an eye out for a used 20R or 22R is time - swapping out the engine for a decent running one so I can get on with getting the car back on the road should be quicker.

The other problem is that if I rip apart the engine, I probably wouldn't put it back together stock. Not since I found that Wiseco makes high compression pistons for the 20R...